Top 5 Midnight Hunt Cards for Standard

Midnight Hunt has been out for a few weeks now and the Standard meta-game is still evolving. The impact of any new set is tough to gauge, but at the moment it appears like Midnight Hunt introduced plenty of Standard playable cards. With the recent conclusion of the Magic World Championship, players got a chance to watch the very best players take a guess at what they thought was the best deck available. Several different archetypes had a shot to take it all thanks to new Midnight Hunt options. Though the Worlds tournament is over it doesn’t mean players will stop brewing Standard decks. Here are the top 5 Midnight Hunt cards that people are sure to utilize in any new lists in the coming weeks.

[Related: Breaking Down the Magic World Championship Deck Lists]

5. Brutal Cathar/Moonrage Brute

Brutal Cathar is a card that can downright lock down an opponent if the conditions are just right. Cathar comes down and removes the strongest creature on the other side of the board. Unlike Skyclave Apparition, Brutal Cathar doesn’t have any restrictions when it comes to removing creature threats. Better yet Cather hits tokens and permanently removes them. Cathar can’t hit non-creature permanents, making the two best of friends as they cover each other’s bases. The 3-mana werewolf is strongest against creature decks that struggle to control the day/night cycle.

There lies the true strength of Brutal Cather. By controlling the Daybound and Nightbound triggers for this card, a player can quickly have four or five creatures tucked under Brutal Cathar. Or if there aren’t creatures to remove, Moonrage Brute is a painful threat to get off of the board. The main issue with Brutal Cathar is that at the moment, there aren’t many creature decks to battle. Though the emergence of Mono-white Aggro decks could mean that there is a chance that this cathar can do the lord’s work once again.

4. The Meathook Massacre

There are plenty of solid sweepers in Standard at the moment. The Doomskar is a powerful turn three sweeper that can slow down aggro decks. Burn the House Down is a bit more expensive, but having multiple modes gives the card much needed flexibility. The Meathook Massacre on the other hand does a little bit of everything. It acts as a win condition like Burn the House Down, and it serves as a “come-back” card against go-wide decks. Best of all, it can often times be a one-sided board wipe.

The Meathook Massacre is great because it doesn’t always need to slot into a control deck. TMM gives new life into Aristocrat-style decks that needed a new win-condition after Bastion of Remembrance rotated out of Standard. It also can slot easily into any midrange deck that could be laying in the wings of the meta.

3. Lier, Disciple of the Drowned

Lier was one of the more surprising additions to the Grixis Epiphany decks this past weekend. The Disciple of the Drowned is an incredible answer to other control decks. It is important to remember that Lier prevents both players counter spells, allowing both players to safely cast anything. With Lier in play, it makes it impossible to counter an Alrund’s Epiphany and any other combo piece a deck may have.

Realistically, this card is going to cause problems in Standard because of the bottom half of text. Giving every instant and sorcery flashback is insane. Not matter what the shell is, once Lier sticks onto the battlefield the graveyard becomes a second hand. Sometimes four copies of Expressive Iteration just isn’t enough. Players shouldn’t be shocked to see a potential combo deck brewed up in the near future with Lier as the center piece.

2. Storm the Festival

For those who don’t play Historic that often, Collected Company is an incredibly powerful card. Grabbing two of the best cards in the top six of the library allows a player to swing the game massively in their favor. Storm the Festival brings that same game-changing power, but with much stronger options. Right now ramp strategies are very strong thanks to the large arsenal of mana accelerating plays. Casting a single Storm the Festival can create a massive disparity in board state.

The cards that Storm the Festival can grab are staggering. Esika’s Chariot, Wrenn and Seven, Froghemeth and even Goldspan dragon are all legal targets for the big CoCo. One of the more interesting interactions is finding a Grafted Identity with Storm the Festival. Because the downside of Grafted Identity is a casting cost, a player can steal an opponents best creature without sacrificing anything. Though the triple-green casting cost is prohibitive, Storm the Festival will remain a tough card to beat in Standard.

1. Wrenn and Seven

There she is, the big boss of Standard. Wrenn and Seven may look relatively innocuous, but they are one of the biggest threats in Standard at the moment. Coming down on turn five to create a large, ever-growing threat is massive in current state of the meta. Pair alongside Esika’s Chariot and now there are multiple giant trees staring down the opponent.

Wrenn and Seven not only draws cards, but ramps up players as well. W7 can come down as early as turn four thanks to all those ramp options that were mentioned earlier. The mono-green planeswalker is so good, it slots into Mono-Green Aggro decks despite being five mana. The skies the limit for Wrenn and Seven, and players are still working to find the best option for this powerful planeswalker.

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